Food safety is a given, when a consumer purchases food they expect it to be safe and fit to eat. The responsibility for ensuring food is safe to eat rests with the farmer (sometimes called the primary producer), the manufacturer or processor (if the food is prepared in a factory), the distributor and wholesaler (the people responsible for transfering the food from the manufacturer to the shop or to the door in the case of direct sales or mail order), the retailer and the consumer themselves.

Schweppes Australia Pty Ltd — Schweppes Lemonade 1.1L
PRA No.
2018/17069. An incorrect label (Schweppes Lemonade Zero Sugar) has been applied to the rear of the bottle, which does not accurately describe the ingredients used in this product. The front label is correct. This product contains sugar. Consumers who have a medical need to avoid sugar should not consume this product.

Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corporation is voluntarily recalling all of its products produced at the Keaau facility between Sept. 6 - 21, 2018 due to a potential contamination of Escherichia coli (E. coli)

Zweigle’s Inc., a Rochester, N.Y., establishment, is recalling approximately 6,082 pounds of ready-to-eat olive loaf pork products due to sodium nitrite levels in excess of the regulatory limit, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced

Junior’s Smokehouse Processing Plant, an El Campo, Texas establishment, is recalling approximately 690 pounds of ready-to-eat teriyaki beef jerky products that may be contaminated with extraneous materials, specifically pieces of hard metal, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced

Cargill Meat Solutions, a Fort Morgan, Colo. establishment, is recalling approximately 132,606 pounds of ground beef products made from the chuck portion of the carcass that may be contaminated with Escherichia coli O26, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced.

Cabots of Westport is recalling the above batch of its basil pesto due to the detection of Listeria monocytogenes. Point-of-sale recall notices will be displayed in stores that sold the implicated batch.

Another co-written paper of mine has been published this week in Food Control - "The role of media reporting in food safety governance in China: a dairy case study" 50 days' free access - click on the link to read in full. Do check it out! @harperfoodies @HarperAdamsUni

This week we have seen an issue in Australia with needles being found in strawberry products.

The Guardian reports on the 15th September that: "A $100,000 reward has been offered for information on the Queensland strawberry saboteur amid fears six brands across four states have been targeted with needle insertion.
Fruit sold under Berry Obsession, Berry Licious and Donnybrook brands have been affected, while New South Wales police warn fruit sold under the Love Berry, Delightful Strawberries and Oasis brands were inserted with needles by a possible copycat."

Eleven years of recall information on my Food Safety Chat blog shows that such issues are isolated but occur from time to time and I have added some others too. Most are associated with in-store contamination. The earliest incidents l…

My article “Let Them Eat Cake:” European Austerity, Food Insecurity, and Food Fraud" published in EuropeNow for Centre for European Studies at Columbia University coincided with BBC News report on unspecified DNA in meat products.

Taylor Farms Illinois, Inc., a Chicago, Ill. establishment, is recalling approximately 75 pounds of beef and pork meatloaf products due to misbranding and undeclared allergens. The product contains eggs and wheat, known allergens, which are not declared on the product label.

J.T.M. Provisions Co., a Harrison, Ohio establishment, is recalling approximately 960 pounds of cooked ground beef patty products that may be adulterated with Listeria monocytogenes, the U.S. Department of…

I'm looking forward to speaking at the Food Safety Summit this October at Harper Adams University. Be sure to sign up for this free one-day seminar and workshop where we’ll be discussing the latest in food safety regulations and technology!

Lidl Ireland is recalling Harvest Basket Potato Croquettes from its stores in Northern Ireland because they contain wheat and egg which are not written in English on the label. This means the product is a possible health risk for anyone with an allergy or intolerance to egg, wheat or gluten.

About Me

Louise has a PhD in global food production and is a 2007 Nuffield Scholar.
Louise has worked in the food supply chain for thirty-five years. Louise has written or edited six books and her research has been published in over sixty peer reviewed articles in research journals. She also writes articles for trade and organisational publications and has over 150 publications.